Automatic regulating means for feeding water to flash-boilers.



J. D. MACLAGHLAN. AUTOMATIC REGULATING MEANS POR SEEDING WATER T0 FLASH .BOITIERS APPLIcATloN FILED JULY A1. '19o7.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Qw EL S S LL N W W 1' tions such as will be more fully described UNITE STA Vr are.

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JOHN D. MACLACHLAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE W.

GOLDEN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent. apliucaaon med July 1, 1907. seriai'No. 381,761.

Patented may 25, 190e.

To all whom it may `concern:

Beit known that I, JonN I). MACLACH- LAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michiganz have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Regulating Means for Feeding l-"Vater to Flash- Boilers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to means for automatically regulatingr the feed of water to Hash steam boilers.

One object is the provision of a construction which may be a plied tothe )iping sys tem of any flash boi er without altering the system in any way.

A further object is the provision of a construction applicable to motor vehicles Wherein the operating parts may be located in any convenient position and are not required to be situated at some definite point.

Still another object is the provision of a construction adapted to clean itself of scale or sediment. y

Another object is to provide means which may be easily and quickly assembled or dis` assembled Without changing the adjustment and 1n which the valve seat may be ground without removal from the system and without disconnecting the piping.

To these and other ends, my invention consists 1n certain novel features and combinahereinafter and claims.

I n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing the application of my invention to a flash steam boiler system; Fig. 2- is a vertical sectional view through the combined relief valve and air chamber; and Fig is a detail View ofthe valve.

(A) indicates the flash boiler; (B), the water tank Aor reservoir preferably open to the atmosphere; (1), the feed pipe leading from the' tank to the boiler; (2), the pump conparticularly set forth in -the nected in any suitable manner to thel engine and operated at all times while the engineis running; and (3), the steam supply pipe from the boiler to the engine. heated in any suitable manner, as by a burner (4) supplied with fuel from a pipe (5).

The operatlon is as follows: Assuming that The boiler isl the boiler and engine are in operation, Water i is forced through conduit (1) to the boiler i from the tank (B), in predetermined quani tities. Now, it-is obvlous that the engine may and does require varying quantities of steam .under different working conditions. For instance, when traveling up-grade, a i large quantity of steam is needed, whereas when traveling on a level at slow speed with a light load, but little steam is required. And i my invention is designed to automatically vary the supply of Water to the boiler, it being assumed for present purposes that the quantity of steam generated from a contmuous supply of water under a constant head discharged by a pipe of predetermined size is always the same. To this end, therefore, I connect the inlet arm 6 of a by-pass at some convenient point in the main conduit (1) between the pumpv and the boiler, lsuch by-pass arm leadlng to a combined relief or by-pass valve and air-chamber. This combined relief or byass valve and air chamber com rises a tuffular casing (7) pro an inverted valve (10) being located between and controlling the passage of liquid from the inlet to the outlet port.

The head of the valve is provided with a or other suita le tool whereby the valve may be. rotated on its seat (12) and with thevintroduction of a little emerydust, the valve or disconnecting the piping, valve-casing or air-chamber.

An air-chamber (23) of any usual form freely communicates with and forms a prac- ',tically integral part of the valve casing above (15), the opposite end of the rod being provided With a conical head (19) received 1n a conical recess v(20) in the valve head. A spring (21) encircles the rod, the lower end of the spring abutting the inner end of the and its seat may be groundwithout removing vided with in et and outlet ports (8) and (9),

Jkerf. (11) ada ted to receive a screw-driver the inlet port (8), to which port the inlet arm which is received Ain a recess (18) in the plug plug, the-opposite end of the spring bearing justing the plug'relative to the sleeve thelAssuming that the engine is the against the head (19) of the rod. By adsprlng is made to bear more or less firmly against the head of the rod and the valve to hold the latter on its seat. ,The recess in the 'plug is ofv such length as to permit the plug to e adjustedlrelative to the rod. The return ipe or discharge arm 22 of the by-pass leads rom the outlet port (9) back to the reservoir. The operation of my device is as follows:

pump ldraws water from the reservolr and delivers it to the boiler through pipe (1).

'-Now, in case the engine is able to use all the steam supplied to it, such action will continue, but 1nv thesevent that a greater quantity of steam is generated than can be used by the engine, the excess steam will create a back pressure against the water in pipe (1) causing the entire quantity of water or a roportion thereof to nd its way along y-pass ipe (6) and through port (8) into the relie valve-chamber where it presses against the valve (10). Now, if .the pressure of the water against the valve is strong enough, the water will unseat the valve vagainst the tension of spring (21) and find its way back to the reservoir through port (9) and return pipe'(22). As soon as the steam pressure drops, the back pressure will be .reduced, the valve will seat, and the water will resume its regular course through pipe (1) to the boiler. Thus the requirement of the en e, or more specifically the load or work' to e done, automatically controls the supply of feed-water to the boller.

, The sleeve (14) with the rod (17) and spring (21) can .be removed and the valve (10) takenfout, replaced or ground 'without disassembling .the piping or changing the ad`ustment.- e

he relief valve and air-chamber can be located at any convenient -point on the vehicle, even on the dash -if desired, and the invention -can ,be easily applied to any flash boiler. x

Thefunction 'of the air-chamber (23) is to prevent water-hammer in pipe (6) .whenthe valve (10) suddenly closes. V The air-chamber operates to preserve an'elastic or yielding pressureupon the water admitted theneto `'from the by-pass pipe, so that the valve (12) is practically balanced between .the spring pressure below and the air-pressure on the v without clogging.

the combination with abyp water above, thereby insuring the quiet and l easy opening and closing of the valve.

lhe device is self-cleaning, the valve being i inverted so that any dirt or sediment entering the valve-chamber will Having thusfully disclosed what I claim as new is-- 1. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with a enerator, a reservoir, a feed pipe directly connectingthe generator and reservoir and a pump in the feed pipe, of a bypass leading from vthe feed pipe at a point intermediate the pump and generator, an air chamber, the open end of which terminatesin a valve casing provided .with inlet and outlet ports, a valve and valve seat located between the ports,'the

pass the valve my invention,

bypass arms communicating with the inlet sleeve, lthe oppositeY end of the .rod receivable in the socket in the plug and a lock nut on the plug, the nut engaging the sleeve-to maintain the plug in adjusted position.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a boiler, a're'servoir, a

sin bo er and reservoir, and a, pump in the feed pipe, of a bypass leadin from the feed pipe at a point/intermediate t e pump and boiler, gan air chamber, the open end of which terminates in a valve casing, having inlet and outlet ports, a valve and valve seat located.

lintermediate thevports, 'and yielding means for retaining the valve' on its seat, the 'air' lso g igie valveless feed pipe ctmnecting the ino chamber and its. associated parts located intermediate the ends ofIl the bypass. l

In testimony whereof, I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.-- n

,IOHN D. MAeLAcifrLA AN. Witnesses:

NELLIEQMAGUB, RALPH. WAB'FIELD. 

